Somebody to Lean On
by Lorelai Danes
Summary: Lavenny, S/C...Laverne deals with the aftermath of date rape...and falls in love with Lenny in the process.
1. Chapter 1

**Somebody to Lean On**

_By Kelly aka CountessKerouac_

**Author's Note - MUST READ: **This story deals with the subject of date rape...if you are offended by that kind of writing either skip over that chapter (it will say "optional chapter") or do not read the fic at all. The story makes perfect sense even if you do not read the chapter containing the rape scene. Other than that, this story will be multiple parts.

**Setting:** One week after "Lenny's Crush".

**Pairings:** Lavenny, Shirley/Carmine

**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters! They belong to Garry Marshall and Paramount.

_Chapter One_

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Laverne was sitting in the doctor's office with her ankle hoisted up on a table, impatiently waiting for the doctor to return with her bandage. Lenny was on the other side of the room, looking at all of the pictures of muscles and skeletons on the wall.

Lenny shook his head sadly. "Boy, I really wish I could take one of these posters home. Then I could use 'em to impress my dates."

Laverne looked confused. "Len, I don't think a picture of some guy's skeleton hangin' on your wall is gonna impress the ladies. It's not exactly a beautiful sight."

Lenny groaned. "Noooo, Laverne….I would only use the poster to memorize all these medical terms. Then I could use 'em in casual conversation to look smart. Like…" he goes on in a deeper, seductive voice, "Why, what a lovely cranium you have there."

Laverne chuckled and shook her head. "That's real good, Len.", she said sarcastically.

"Well, I always had a way with words…"

She winced a little at the pain in her ankle. "Owwww….God, where is that doctor? Doesn't he know I'm in pain over here?"

Lenny sat down next to Laverne. "I'm real sorry you hurt your ankle, Laverne."

"Nah, it's okay. Squiggy's the one who should be sorry, it was all his fault. Tryin' to toss me a bowling ball…what was he thinkin'? It's a bowling ball, not a football. He's lucky I have health insurance, otherwise I'd send him the bill."

"Aw well, ya know Squig. He didn't meant to do it. He just doesn't think sometimes. Anyway, now you can stay outta work for a few days."

"Yeah, that's true. You're real sweet for takin' me to the doctor, Len. I woulda asked Shirl, but she has a date with Carmine later and I didn't know how long this would take."

"Nah…anyway, I had fun pretendin' the beer truck was an ambulance." Lenny said with a big grin.

"Yeah, but the noises you made were a bit much." She pointed out, clutching her ankle.

"I was going for authenticity, Laverne." Lenny whined. "You really wanna ride in a silent ambulance?"

She smiled warmly at Lenny and shook her head. "You're so silly."

Laverne away from Lenny as she saw the door fly open. "Oh, here's the doctor. Finally."

A highly attractive man holding a bandage came inside. "Sorry for the wait, I couldn't find the tape. Let me just wrap it up for you and you'll be on your way."

Laverne was taken aback by the handsomeness of the man. "You're not the same doctor who was in here before, I woulda noticed…I mean, I would have…who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Michael Schwartz. And you are Mrs. Laverne DeFazio, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me." She then realized her mistake. "I mean no! Not missus. Definitely not missus. I'm _Ms_. Laverne DeFazio…_Ms_. as in not married. Never married, not once."

The doctor smiled flirtatiously and said, "Good to know." He cast an annoyed glance at Lenny sitting next to Laverne. "You'll have to get up, Sir. I need to work on her over here. There's a chair over there by the wall."

Lenny gave the doctor a dirty look and reluctantly got up and leaned against the wall behind Laverne.

While the doctor applied the bandage, Laverne stared in awe at his perfect features. She watched as he slowly wrapped her swollen foot. "Thanks a lot, Doc." She paused for a moment. "So, when can I get it taken off? Do I have to come back?"

"It's only a minor sprain, you should be fine within a week." He said while observing Laverne's tanned legs. "Why don't you come back on Monday at 3 o' clock and if it's feeling okay, I'll take it right off."

"Monday at three. Sounds good."

The doctor cleared his throat and asked, "So, what do you do, Ms. DeFazio?"

She was still mesmerized by the fact that this gorgeous man was touching her foot. "It's Laverne…and anything you want. Well, not anything, but…"

He laughed. "No, no, I mean for work. What do you do for work?"

"Oh, I'm a bottle capper at Shotz. The brewery."

"Sounds interesting."

"Nah, not really. The bottles come along and I just cap 'em. It's hard work, but that's life, right?"

"It certainly is. Well, you're all set. I'm just going to write you out a prescription for a pain killer." He paused for a moment and looked over at Lenny staring at him with eyes that could kill. Sensing Lenny's obvious jealousy, he decided to go further. "Say, Laverne, on Monday if you're feeling better, maybe we could get a cup of coffee or something at the cafeteria downstairs? My treat."

Laverne's face lit up and she nodded excitedly. "That sounds great, I love coffee. Don't I love coffee, Len?"

Lenny's heart sank a bit, but he nodded anyway. As the doctor wrote out her prescription, he saw Laverne and him chatting away. Lenny leaned against the back wall glaring at the doctor in disdain. He knew he could never get Laverne to like him with men like that around wanting to take her out.

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After Laverne and Lenny left, Michael Schwartz went on his break. He slinked quietly through two giant double doors that led to the room where they keep highly protected medicines…such as ether, anaethesia, etc. He walked quickly to the section containing the medication he required, glanced around to make sure no one was watching what he was doing, grabbed what he needed, and slipped quietly back to his office.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Laverne DeFazio stood in front of her and Shirley's full-length mirror, carefully examining the new red dress she had recently purchased from Meckler's department store. It was pretty cheap since it was on sale, but looked surprisingly beautiful on her tall, toned body. It sloped steeply at her cleavage, showing off some of her attributes, but still leaving much up to the imagination. It hugged her waist and hips snugly, then poofed out slightly in a delicate ruffle a few inches above her knees. She ran a brush through her hair and looked over her appearance one final time before deciding she looked good enough for the date she had that night. That night, she was going on a fourth date with a man who happened to be a doctor. A doctor! She never thought in a million years that she would be asked out by a doctor for a fourth date. Sure, she had gone out with doctors before, but they never seemed to ask her back out a second time. She knew the odds of a brewery worker landing multiple dates with a doctor were slim, so she really wanted to make his toes curl. And she knew that the way to a doctor's heart was through that sexy red dress.

Laverne walked out into the living room for a pre-date milk and Pepsi. Shirley was sitting on the couch watching Sea Hunt with Boo Boo Kitty. It was Saturday night and she hadn't gotten out of her pajamas since Friday afternoon.

"Hey, Shirl" Laverne said while pouring her favorite mixture. "Want a Pepsi?"

Shirley sighed glumly. "No, thanks. I have a little gas pain." She was quiet for a moment as she looked over at Laverne enviously. "Going out on another date with your doctor, huh? Boy, you must be excited."

"Oh, Shirl…you have no idea. How do I look?" She asked nervously as she twirled around to show off her dress. She clutched her chest. "Too much?"

"Well, it's a little…revealing."

Laverne pulled the cloth up higher to cover more of her cleavage. "How 'bout now?"

"That looks better. Just don't show too much or he'll think you're gonna give him more than you're planning on."

"Yeah?" Laverne asked hopefully, smiling. "Like what?"

"Laverne!"

"I'm kiddin, I'm kiddin'. Anyway, I really wanna wear something special to just swoop him off his feet, ya know? Boy, am I glad I sprained that ankle, Shirl. I mean, let's face it…I don't get too many dates with guys I meet in hospitals. Unless you count the janitorial staff."

"They don't count."

While Laverne wrung her hands nervously, Shirley smiled warmly and let go some of her jealous emotions. "You look beautiful, Laverne. Really beautiful."

Laverne waved her hand modestly. "Aw, thanks, Shirl." She took a big gulp of her milk and Pepsi, which left a mustache on her upper lip, which she didn't wipe away.

Shirley glared at her friend sternly. "You wanna kiss a doctor with that concoction all over your face? Wipe your lips! For goodness sakes, Laverne, act like a lady."

Laverne promptly removed the moustache. "Shirl, ever since I've been seein' Michael, you've been jumping all over me. Are you just jealous because I'm finally the one dating a doctor and you're sitting home with Boo Boo Kitty watchin' Sea Hunt in your jammies? Huh?"

Shirley stood up in defiance. "I am not jealous!", she said, looking away from her friend to not give away her lie, "I was simply offering advice on your appearance. That's all. You wanna go out with a milk and Pepsi moustache, go out with a milk and Pepsi moustache. See if I care."

"Shirl, it's gone, okay? And you are jealous. But, it's okay because you know what I'm gonna do tonight?"

Shirley looked at her friend curiously. "What? Have a fabulous time with your sexy, rich doctor?"

"Well, that….but I also figured that since me and Mike have been out a few times, I can ask him if he has a sexy, rich doctor friend for you. But, if you don't want me to…"

Shirley's face lit up in joy. "Oh, Laverne! Please, please, please? You have no idea how much that would mean to me! Please, Laverne? I'm sorry about what I said. You're right, I am jealous. Please?"

"I'll ask him tonight." Laverne grinned as her friend hugged her tightly. The knock at the door disrupted their embrace and Laverne asked Shirley one more time how she looked, to which Shirley concluded that she looked wonderful.

Michael walked in and upon seeing Laverne, his eyes widened. "Wow, Laverne…you look beautiful. What's the special occasion?"

"I don't know, what'd you have in mind?" Laverne said in an uncharacteristically timid tone. Michael then took her into his arms and passionately laid a rough kiss on her lips while Shirley watched, kicking herself for not going to the hospital with Laverne the day she sprained her ankle. They parted and Laverne cleared her throat. "So, I guess we'll be going now. See you later, Shirl. Don't wait up."

"Laverne, don't forget…you know." Shirley reminded her.

"I won't, I won't. Bye, Shirl."

"Bye, Laverne. Bye, Mike. Have a fun time!"

That night, after dinner and a movie, Laverne and Mike were driving home in his new car, listening to Frank Sinatra on the radio. During a pause in their conversation, Mike looked over at Laverne, his eyes moving inadvertently to the small bit of cleavage sticking out above her dress.

"Wanna go back to my place?" He asked suddenly with a twinkle in his eye. "I just bought some new records. We could put them on, dance a little, have some wine…you know."

Laverne looked at him softly….his blue eyes, his warm smile, his gorgeous body, and thought to herself that she wouldn't mind doing all of those things with him. However, she also knew what he probably thought would happen afterward and she wasn't sure she knew him well enough for that, yet. Not that she wasn't dying to make out with him.

Laverne sighed. "I don't know, Mike. I mean, that all sounds…wonderful, actually. I would love to, but I don't know if I know you that well, yet."

"We've been on _four_ dates, Laverne. I'm crazy about you. I just want to be alone with you, that's all. I haven't really had a chance to get to know you either. It's hard to get to know someone at the movies…you're not even allowed to talk!"

"Well, what do you wanna know?" Laverne sounded more timid and gentler than her usual crass sarcasm and confident self-assurance. "I'm not that interesting, really. Ask Shirl."

"I'll tell you what….why don't we go back to my place, crack open some wine, and I can find out all those fascinating and interesting things about yourself I know you're not telling me. Just one drink and I promise you'll never have to see me again, okay?"

Laverne looked vulnerably into his eyes for a moment, searching for something that she didn't know. Finally, a small smile curled up on her lips and she said, "Okay, you got me."

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2 Optional

**Somebody to Lean On**

_Chapter Two – **Optional **Chapter_

_May contain material objectional to some readers. _

They walked up two flights to his luxury apartment. It had a view of downtown Milwaukee and a walk-on deck furnished with a lounge chair and a glass table. Laverne entered the apartment and gasped at the decadent décor.

"Wow, this is some place you got here! How many people you have to operate on to afford this baby?" She asked in awe.

"Laverne, I love your sense of humor. You really have a wit."

"Nah." Laverne modestly motioned her hand as she took a seat on his white leather couch. She glided her hand along the seat to feel how soft it was. "Oh, man, is this thing soft or what? So soft I could sleep on it." She felt her legs slide over the softness of the material and goose bumps began to crawl over her skin.

"I'd like that." Mike winked at her suggestively and Laverne's body tingled with excitement upon hearing his words.

He walked into the kitchen. "So, how about that wine? Which kind would you like? I have a wide variety. Merlot…Riesling…Japanese plum sake?"

"Got anything red?"

"Merlot it is!" He laughed and poured two glasses.

"Merlot sounds nice." Laverne said, obviously not knowing much about wine. "Sorry, I don't really go out with a lotta guys who have different wines to pick from. Usually it's just whatever's in the box, ya know?" She added with a laugh.

"Laverne, you are a funny one." He said, shaking his head and handing her the glass.

After finishing about half the glass of wine, she began to feel a little dizzy and disoriented. She closed her eyes for a second, then looked over at Mike, who appeared a bit out of focus. She started seeing four eyes…four gorgeous blue eyes. "Wow….okay, Merlot…Merlot", she began stammering, "Merlot must be strong 'cause I can usually handle anything. I can chug-a-lug like nobody's business, believe me. But, this is makin' me a little loopy…real fast. I think…I think I'm gonna skip on the rest for now." She went to put the glass back on the table, but she missed the table and the glass fell to the floor and broke. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…I'm sorry."

"Shhh, it's okay. I have a maid, she'll clean it up. Relax, sweetie."

"But, your rug…it's so fancy and white and clean…and now it's all red, look. Look what I did…I'm sorry, Mike. Maybe you better take me home. I don't feel so good. I'm seein' double."

"Why don't you go lie down for a while? I have a guest room. And it's okay if you get sick because I have tons of sheets."

"Well, I don't know. If I don't come back home tonight, Shirl'll be worried about me. You better take me home. Sorry again about the rug."

"Why don't you relax for a while, watch some TV, and I'll take you back in an hour or so?"

Laverne shrugged. "Okay, I guess so." When she stood up, she lost her balance, stumbled, and fell back onto the couch. She felt her body go limp. "Hey, why don't I just lay here? It's so soft…" She ran her hand along the material again. "Mmm…so soft" she mumbled sleepily and rested her head down on the pillow.

Mike lifted her legs up and helped her lay down. He slowly reached down and gently lifted the bottom hem of her dress up over her knee, then proceeded to graze the tan skin of her inner thigh with his knuckles. "Yes, so soft. Ooh, so soft…" His forefinger moved upward, caressing her skin further. "Smooth…" He cooed, and rubbed her inner thigh with his finger in little circles. His finger moved up further to where he could feel the hemline of her underwear.

Laverne opened her eyes abruptly and through the haze of her distorted vision understood what he was doing. "Hey…no." She could barely get the words out; her body was fighting her mind's good judgment. "No, stop…you can't do that."

"Laverne, honey, just lie down. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Laverne's body froze in that moment, when he said those words. She knew that he was going to hurt her and that she would be too weak to fight him off. She knew he would strip her naked and have his way with her. And she knew there was nothing she could do to stop his advances.

"Stop it. Please…" She begged, but he already had her drugged, she was helpless.

"Shhh…it's gonna feel so good, I promise. I'll be gentle."

"No…" She started sobbing as she saw him swiftly unzip his pants and slide them down to the floor. Her eyesight was becoming increasingly blurry and she could no longer make out his face. He looked faceless. She continued to feel everything though. His hands on her dress…the 28 dollar dress she paid for with all of her spending money for that month…she felt as he ripped the straps off because she was too heavy to lift up to get the zipper. He tugged at her dress until it was down around her ankles, and then subsequently onto the floor.

Laverne let out a moan, not of pleasure, but of agony.

He then removed her panties slowly, dragging them tauntingly, exulting in his demonstration of power. He slid them all the way down her legs until she was fully exposed to him. He reached up and lightly caressed her breasts; they were soft and supple, tanned lightly due to her Italian descent. Her nipples hardened without her intending them to do so. There was a cold breeze blowing in from the deck window where his glass table with the fancy furniture sat. The wind grazed her naked body, giving her the shivers.

Laverne could no longer see him, but could hear the sound of his boxers coming off. She couldn't understand what had happened between looking forward to a great night out and what he was doing to her now. "You..." She choked on her own words, "you said…", she stuttered. "You said I was beautiful…you told me I was beautiful."

"You are, for the most part. Why?"

Laverne could no longer see, but tears flowed from her eyelids. "Then why are you doing this? I never did nothin' to you."

"Because I can." He said. Then, in one swift movement, he spread apart her legs and tore open her womanhood with one abrupt thrust. Pained groans escaped Laverne's throat, a sound guttural and animal-like. She felt him inside of her, moving in and out for three more violent thrusts before her mind went entirely black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Somebody to Lean On**

_Chapter 3_

When Laverne awoke, she was lying on her couch. She couldn't open her eyes more than halfway, but recognized the feeling and familiar smell of her sofa. The burning pain between her legs quickly reminded her what had happened. Not quite ready to think about it so soon, she quickly closed her eyes again and drifted back off to sleep.

When she awoke for the second time, she heard the scattered voices of her friends. She heard Shirley weeping softly and a man telling her that it would be okay. She smelled the distinct odor of hot chocolate and fried Spam and instantly knew that the boys must have been over. After lying there for a minute, she suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. She didn't want to open her eyes and be forced to face them all, especially Lenny and Squiggy. She knew they wouldn't know what to say. She wouldn't know what to say either. So, instead, she pretended to be asleep. It was better than having to explain the night's events. She didn't feel like talking about it…ever…and prayed silently that they wouldn't be able to figure out exactly what had happened. Perhaps they thought she had merely been mugged or had gotten into a fight.

"I don't know what to do, Lenny. I just don't know...did you try calling Mrs. Babbish again?" Shirley whispered in a hoarse voice. She sat at the table across from Lenny, while Squiggy pretended to be enamored over cooking the Bosco and Spam.

Lenny sighed. "I called like ten times, Shirl. She ain't home."

"Could you please try again, one more time…for me? For Laverne?" Shirley asked, her eyes red from crying. "I don't know what to do. Mrs. Babbish always knows what to do in these types of situations."

"Sure thing, Shirl." He agreed.

Lenny tried to reach Edna again, but all he got was the dial tone. Hanging up, he glanced over at Laverne lying on the couch motionless, her dress torn up and her face tear-stained. Lenny and Squiggy had found her laying on the stoop like a homeless person, her body shivering from the cold Milwaukee weather. Lenny didn't know what had happened, but he knew it wasn't good.

He saw her stir a little in her sleep and went over to her to see if she had woken up.

"Laverne?" She didn't answer, but he saw her eyes shut a bit tighter at the sound of his voice. He sat down near her legs. When he placed his hand gently on her knee, he felt her stir again. He stared into her closed eyes, hoping she would wake up.

"Laverne? Yoo hoo. It's me, Lenny. I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I…" He paused momentarily. "I wanna say that I hope nothin' real bad happened or anything. We're all real worried about ya…." Not knowing what else to say, he reached up and brushed the bangs out of her eyes. "Uh…. we made up some hot Bosco in case you're thirsty. With the marshmallows and everything, just the way you like it." With that, Lenny's eyes began to well up. He quickly wiped them away, embarrassed. He leaned nearer to her face and whispered so Shirley wouldn't hear him. "I want you to know that whoever did this to you, I'll kill them. I'll kill them…." His words choked on him. A few moments passed. "So, anyway, we'll be here when you get up. Sweet dreams, Vernie."

Shirley wiped her eyes and looked over at Lenny sitting with Laverne. A small smile crept up on her face, but it quickly faded. She looked at her best friend mournfully and realized she should probably get her out of those clothes.

"Lenny, I'm gonna go get some clean clothes for Laverne….would you and Squiggy mind staying in the bed room for a few minutes while I get her changed?"

Normally, this would illicit a loud "bedroom!" reaction from the boys, but due to the seriousness of the situation, they refrained.

"We can go home if ya want." Squiggy offered.

Lenny chimed in, "Yeah, we might just be in the way and all…"

"No no, please stay. I don't want Laverne to be alone when she wakes up. We should all be here for her."

Lenny nodded and motioned to Squiggy to come with him.

After they all went into the bedroom, Laverne opened her eyes and looked down at her sore body. It looked the same, with the exception of her dress being ripped. She sighed in relief, realizing that they probably would never be able to figure out what had really happened. She sat up slowly even though only a faint burning sensation between her legs remained.

_I'll be okay_, she said to herself. _I'm strong_…._Hell,_ _I'm Italian._ _As long as no one finds out what happened, it's like it didn't really happen. I'll just forget about it. No one has to know._

"Laverne!" Shirley cried out when she saw that Laverne had awoke and ran over to her. "Oh my God, I was so worried about you. What happened to you? What happened?" Her friend's voice pierced through her mind. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Laverne knew her friend was panicked and didn't want to upset her more. "It's okay. I'm okay. Relax." She reached over and embraced Shirley fiercely, rocking her back and forth in her arms while burrowing her head into Shirley's neck. Secretly, she felt as though she never wanted to break the embrace. The care her friend gave off felt so nice on her cold body.

She reluctantly let go. "I'm fine, Shirl, I promise." Laverne's voice was coarse, she needed water. "Everything's okay."

"What the heck happened to you? Who did this?"

"Uhhh…yeah, I just got into this bad fight with this real trampy girl who was flirting with Mike. That's all. She clocked me real good in front of our building. I tried to fight her off, but it didn't work."

"Oh, Laverne. I'm so sorry. I can't believe she would just leave you outside in the cold like that. What a heartless, emotionless creature! That's inhuman. You could have froze to death!" Shirley exclaimed.

"If it's all good with you, Shirl, I don't really wanna talk about it. It's over. It happened, now it's over. I don't want to discuss it."

"Why not?"

Laverne let out an exasperated sigh. "I just don't wanna, okay?"

Shirley looked confused. "Sure, I mean, I guess. As long as you're okay. Do you want to go to the police? The doctor? I called Mrs. Babbish, but she wasn't home. She usually knows what to do--"

"No, no, and no. I'm fine, see?" To prove this point, she got up and walked around, doing pretend stretches and lunges. "See? Fine. Fresh as a daisy."

"Can we come out yet?" Squiggy called from the bedroom.

"Yes, come on out, Laverne is up! She's up!" Shirley cried excitedly. Lenny and Squiggy burst into the living room, jumping up and down.

"Laverne!" Lenny cried with a big smile across his face as he embraced his friend. "I was so worried you were gonna sleep like that forever! But, look at you…you're up…you look good. We made hot Bosco, ya want some Bosco?"

Laverne chuckled sadly and nodded. "Yeah, Len. Bosco sounds great actually. Thanks." To his surprise, she leaned into him and placed a small, innocent kiss on his cheek. "And just so you know, I did hear you."

He looked perplexed. "When?"

"Before. When you sat by me, I could hear ya."

Lenny blushed. "Aw, well, you know. Desperate times…" He paused for a moment, and then realized he didn't know yet what had happened to her. "Wait…so what happened to ya? Why were you laying on the stoop like that?"

Laverne stumbled with her words, "Well, I…uh…"

Shirley interrupted, "She just got into a fight with some girl who tried to get with this doctor she's been going out with, that's all. She's okay, right Vernie? You're okay?"

Laverne looked into Lenny's eyes for a moment before giving a slow, reluctant nod. "Yeah…I'm okay."

"You promise?" Lenny asked like a small child.

Laverne gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "I promise."

He cocked his head to the side and looked at Laverne as though he knew she was not telling the truth, but let it go. "I'll get you some hot Bosco, kay Laverne?"

"Mm hmm. I'm gonna go change, I'll be right back." Laverne disappeared into the bedroom.

….


End file.
